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Of Prayer

John Calvin

John Calvin (1509-1564) was a leading figure of the Reformation, and an important theologian of the Reformed Church, fundamental in shaping doctrine. Born in Noyon, he was initially educated as a cathedral canon before studying for the priesthood at Paris. He studied law at Orleans and Bourges before becoming a Protestant. Controversy surrounding the Reformation forced Calvin to travel throughout Italy, Switzerland and France, with time spent in Geneva, Basle and Strasbourg. In Strasbourg Calvin ministered for three years before returning to Geneva in 1541, where he lived the rest of his life, writing and preaching, as effective leader of the Reformed Church. His most important works are his Commentaries and the Institutes.

A treatise on Prayer, extracted from Book Three of Calvin’s Institutes.

This short “treatise” is taken from Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion – his magnum opus and a fundamental theological text of the Reformed Tradition. The first edition of the Institutes was a short work of six chapters, published in 1536; by the fifth and final edition in 1559 it had been greatly revised and enlarged (79 chapters), reflecting Calvin’s mature thought and theological understanding. Divided into four books, it is effectively a “systematic” Theology, moving from:

1. God the Creator
2. God the Redeemer in Christ
3. The mode of obtaining the Grace of Christ
4. The Holy Catholic Church

    This treatise comprises chapter 20 of Book Three (“The Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ. The Benefits It Confers, and the Effects Resulting from It.”). The 52 sections cover important and essential aspects of prayer, including an exposition of the Lord’s Prayer.

Church History

Reformation